Stop device



May 12, 1953 l. H. SMALL 2,638,197

STOP DEVICE Filed Sept. 25, 1947 7a k v '4 w @y "ILImL 1 INVENTOR. l lll Y 5/ II l I l HHUIILII |l l H Y /IWSMHLLJ 4 l 56 i I l| l '-54 l Wwf M Patented May 12, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC Ian HQ Small,` Indianapolis, Ind., assignor to Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Ind., a corporation of Indiana Apmicatimseptembsr 25, 194i, serial No. 176,001 1 claim. (ci. 19e- 35) This invention relates to a holding device adapted for use With a roller conveyor to hold loadv pieces in fixed position at any desired point on the conveyor.

l The invention is of special usefulness in combination with the load transporting mechanism described and claimed in the joint application of myself and Loman, Serial No. 776,@02, led September 25, 1947, now Patent No. 2,685,912. In thatload-transporting mechanism, a plurality of conveyor flights are mounted on a truck to Support thereon a load, for example, a plurality of packages. A xed stop is provided at the inner endA of each conveyor night, and the load is held tightly against that Xed-stop by a holding device removably associated withthe conveyor night at the opposite end of theload thereon.

For use in this and many other situations, it is the object of my invention to provide a holding device which may be associated with a roller conveyor and which will be adjustable to engage and hold theload pieces at any desired point along the conveyor. It is a further objectof my invention to provide such a holding device which rhay be` positioned on the conveyor by any of the rollers thereof, which will be adjustable with respect to the position of said roller and will tend to adjust itself against the load, and which may exert some pressure on the load, as `to `press it tightly against an opposed stop. It is my further object to provide for the ready release of the stop from the load, whether or not under pressure, and to holdthe load at a-position to clear the conveyor rollerengaging position of the stop sothat upon release of the adjustable portion of the stop, the whole may be removed from the conveyor without interference with the loadtherecn. It is a further object of my invention tomake'- the stop of simple construction and in aform which will be convenient for use and which will permit one-hand operation and use thereof. It isa further object of my invention to make the stop of such character that it will elfectively retain against displacement cnthe conveyor any of the different loads which maybe placed thereon and whether cornprising one or a series of load pieces,` such as packages,.work-holding baskets, orthe like, regardless of variations in the lengths of the dif ferent loads.

In accordance with my invention, myirnproved holding device comprises a base plate adapted to span and rest on a plurality of theconveyor rollers and having. means, such as a hook-shaped portion, to engage one or more of such rollers'to x the positionof the base onthe'conveyo'r; and the lil 2 I base supports a load-engaging member movable through arange,preferably ahe'a'd of the base, equal to or greater than the distance between successive positions of the base on the rollers: Desirably, the loadengaging member is pivoted adjacent the front of the base, and a latch bar extends between a pivot on one or the other of the load-engaging member and the base into en-A gagement with the teeth of arack on the other ci said members. Preferably, the latch bar is' pivoted to the'load-ene'aging member andthe rack is fixed to the base, the rack-engaging endI of the latch oar is constrained to movement along the rack, and the latch bar is frined to provide a handle; and with this arrangement, the device lends itself to one-hand operation and* use, and the parts by their own weight tend to swing'read-` ily to load-engaging position `and with this move"- inent or with simple manualV pressure on the handle, to lock themselves in proper positionA against the load.

These and; other important features of the in; vention Will appear from the following detailed description and claim.

In the drawing:

1 is a side elevation of a stop or holding device embodying my invention, said stop device being shown in place on a roller conveyor; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the stop device looking from above in Fig. 1.

The stop device i `shown in the drawingcoinprises a` base member or plate 6 adapted tcspan` and rest upon three underlying rollers of the con# veyor, and which has a depending hook` 'le to engage around the foremost of such rollers, and to which base 5 there is pivota'lly connected a` load-engaging member This pivotal connec-` tion may conveniently comprise a hinge plate Ill riveted to the base plate 6 and asecond hingel plate i2 riveted to theload-exigagingmember 8, said hinge plates ill and l2 being provided at their adjacent edges with interengaging knuckles'- I4 through which passes a pintle I6, hingedly con` necting member 8 with base plate 6.

For holding theload-engaging member i3` ad'V justably in load-engaging position, there is pr`o vided a latch member t8' pivote'd at 2li to said member t and having a pawl 22* to engage any selected one of aplurality of teethv 24 projecting"A upwardly from a rack 2G.

For holding the rack bar- 2li` securely attached to the base plate E, the'reareV provided twov angle plates 30 whichv are `ixed-to the base plate E and which engage oppositesi'de's" of the bar 2e iii-ariarrangement in which upright members `3:2 of the* angle plates 30 are riveted to said rack bar 2B. These upright members 32 also provide a combined guideway and retaining means for the latch I8. As shown, the upright members 32 receive between them an end portion of the latch IS for sliding movement in said guideway. For retaining the latch I8 in co-operative relation to the guideway and to the rack bar 26, the upright members 32, constituting the guideway, vare provided with aligned slots 35 (Fig. 1) along which is slidable a bolt 38 which may conveniently be provided with a wing-nut 48 so that upon tightening said wing-nut the latch I 8 and plate 8 may be secured in xed relation to the base plate.

In order that the pawl 22 of the latch I8 may move into and out of engagement with the teeth on the rack bar 26, the end of the latch I8 is provided with a slot 44, the long yaxis of which is at a right angle to the long axis of the latch I8, the arrangement being such that the sides of the slot slidably engage the bolt 38. During movement of the work-engaging member 8, as from its solid-line position to its dotted-line position in Fig. 1, the pawl 22 of the latch member I8 rides over the teeth 24 and during this movement the pawl end of the latch I8 slides up and down with respect to the bolt 38 which is constrained to move along the slot 36.

A handle 58 is provided on the latch member I8, for its operation and for picking up the stop or holding device 4, said handle 58 and the latch member I8 being located substantially at the middle line of the base plate 6. By having the handle member 50 located on the latch I8 there is provided a ready means for lifting the pawl end of the latch from engagement with the rack bar 26 and thus facilitating the withdrawal of the load-engaging member 8 from contact with a load piece 6D at the end of a line of load pieces on the roller conveyor 82.

As shown in the drawing, the roller conveyor `62 comprises a spaced series of freely rotatable rollers 88 mounted on anti-friction bearings in side bars 64. Other usual forms of roller conveyors may be employed, and the conveyor may be either gravity or power operated.

In use, the holding device embodying my invention is lifted by the handle 58, and set down with its base resting on the rollers at the desired point along the conveyor. Its hook 7E! will project downward between a pair of rollers, and the base may then move rearward to bring the hook into engagement with one of the rollers, as indicated in Fig. 1, to fix the stop device against movement in one `direction lengthwise of the conveyor 62. With the device held by its handle SEI, it will normally hang with its -pawl 22 retracted and with the load-engaging member 8 in its rearmost position. As the de- Vice is laid on the rollers, its load-engaging member 8 will tend to fall forward to and beyond the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, and such movement may be positively obtained by pressure on the handle in a downward and forward direction which is substantially a continuation of the motion employed in laying the `device on the rollers. If a load piece is lying in its path, the load-engaging member will engage such piece and the pawl will then fall into locking `engagement with a tooth 2d of the rack bar 26. Further manual pressure may be exerted on the handle, which will cause the load-engaging member to press rearward against the load piece on the conveyor, as to cause it and any others in line with it to move tightly together and lagainst an associated stop at the other end of the line of load pieces.

Whether or not this pressing effect is desired, the load-engaging member 8 may be positioned in an inclined position to hold the load beyond the end of the base 6 and clear of the hook 10. When now it is desired to remove the stop, the handle 50 is lifted, which rst disengages the pawl 22 from the rack teeth 24, then pivots the load-engaging member 8 rearward, and then lifts the whole device from the rollers. This result is readily obtained by a simple lifting inotion on the handle, and carries the whole device clear of the conveyor rollers without interference from or movement of the load on the conveyor.

The stop is of special utility with the `conveyor flights of the truck shown in the above-identied application of myself and Loman, where load pieces are to vbe held in fixed position on the freely rotatable rollers of each such ight and against a xed stop at one end thereof. Each iiight is loaded from one end and the load pieces moved into a closed series against a stop at the other end, leaving a few rollers at the loading end to receive a holding device. A holding device of this invention may then be placed upon those free end rollers and its handle 5D pressed downward, which moves the load-engaging member lforward against the load to press the load pieces together and against the xed stop. The pawl 22 then locks the load-engaging member in position to hold the load securely during movement of the truck, and the pawl may be clamped in locked position by tightening the wing nut on the bolt 38. Removal of the stop is equally simple, and requires merely loosening of the wing nut and a single lifting movement on the handle 58.

I claim:

The combination with a roller conveyor having a series of freely rotatable spaced rollers eX- tending transversely between oppositely disposed parallel side members, of a stop device for holding a load on said conveyor against movement therealong; said device comprising a base plate adapted to span at least two of said rollers; hook means at one end of said plate curved conformably to the radius of said rollers so as to intimately and continuously embrace a portion of the surface of any one of said rollers Ian eX- tent suicient to securely anchor said plate against movement in a direction at normal to and along said rollers in one direction and yet permit the ready removal of `said plate by slight movement thereto in an opposite direction; a load-engaging member pivcted on said plate adjacent to said hook means; spaced, oppositely disposed, angle plates extending longitudinally of and aixed to said base plate; rack means ixed between said angle plates with the teeth of said rack means projecting toward the opening between said plates; a buttressing latch member having a pawl formed thereon at one end and pivotally connected at its opposite end to said load-engaging member; said pawl being slidably guided in the space between said angle plates and adapted to engage the teeth of said rack means `by gravity; said angle plates having oppositely disposed, longitudinally extending, elongate, aligned slots; said latch member having a transversely disposed, elongate slot provid-ed therein adjacent its pawl end; and manipulatively operable securing means passing through said slots in said angle plates and said 5 slot in lsaid latch member for releasably locking sa-id buttressng `latch member in an adjusted position with respect to the teeth of said rack means to hol-d the load-engaging member in adjusted position against an end piece of a load supported on said conveyor.

IAN H. SMALL.

References Cited inthe le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Laskey July 16, 1889 Van Alstne Feb. 13, 1906 Matan l Oct. 3, 1939 Van Zandt Dec. 22, 1942 Grifth Mal'. 8, 1949 

